Fall in number of first-time young offenders

Ministry of Justice figures have revealed that the number of young people convicted for an offence for the first time is continuing to fall.

21,016 under-18s were convicted for an offence for the first time throughout the whole of 2014. This is a 10.7% drop on the 2013 figure of 23,537.

A breakdown of the figures for 2014 shows a fall in under-18 first-time entrants into the criminal justice system in almost all of the 12 crime categories including violent assault, sexual offences, robbery, arson and drug offences.